Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
She looked away, but she wasn’t quick enough to hide the quiver of her chin. “I’m really just sick of hurting you, Cam.”
Leaning to the side, I forced my face into her line of sight. “Okay, now, I’m confused. What part of that do you think hurt me, exactly? Was it the noises? I promise you none of those were cries of pain, but if it bothered you, I can work on it. I’m always open to constructive feedback.”
She laughed, but it was sad. “Me coming here was supposed to be about you. To support you through hard times like you’ve always done for me. But then I showed up and you were really hot.”
I chuckled and hugged her tight. “Is it a bad thing?”
“Yeah, because now, I know how perfect you are. And you think you could get addicted to me, but I have to leave in the morning.”
And there it was. The truth that always lingered between Nora and me.
Our story was a tangled tale of time and distance.
Choices and consequences.
Love and longing.
But, throughout, we were never on the same page at the same time.
When we were kids, it had been out of our control. She’d lived in Clovert and I’d lived in Alberton; a summer together was all we could have hoped for. We’d grown up, but the circumstances that surrounded us were more complex than ever. Did I wish that she’d asked me to stay when I’d left the hospital the last time I’d seen her? With my entire heart. Did I understand why she couldn’t? With my entire being. I could never expect Nora to love me until she loved herself.
As a man who would have done anything to fix things for her, that was a hard fucking pill to swallow. I’d spent many nights raging at the unfairness of finding my soul mate in a shattered girl I could never quite hold on to. But those were the cards I’d been dealt, and I had to be realistic about my expectations of how things would play out.
The way I saw it, I had three options.
Walk away and close the door on Nora Stewart forever.
Show up on her doorstep, pulling her close and ultimately pushing her further away.
Or enjoy the moments when the universe saw fit to bring her into my life and hope like hell that, one of those times, I’d finally get to keep her.
I’d chose option three every single time because, in our story, it was the only plot line in which I got to keep her. Even just for a night.
Reclining on the bed, I dragged her down with me. With her knees on either side of my hips, she settled squarely on top of me, the right parts of her body aligned with all the right parts of mine. My cock stirred to life immediately; the greedy bastard was ready for more.
It would have to wait—preferably for when there wasn’t an entire cotton field of sweatpants between us and she was back to smiling and laughing.
“I know how this works, Nora. I haven’t spent half my life obsessing over you without learning a few things.”
She buried her face in my neck. “Oh, God, don’t say that. That just makes me feel worse.”
“Hey, stop. It’s not a bad thing.”
“It feels bad. Knowing I can’t be who you want me to be.”
“Nora, you’re here with me. After giving me what you just gave me, trusting me to be that man for you—you’re exactly who I want you to be.”
“Do you want to know why I’ve never had sex with anyone before?”
I chuckled. “Is it because you’ve spent your adult life hoping for two orgasm-less minutes in Heaven with me? Because…not to brag or anything, but I’m all about making dreams come true.”
She giggled and lifted her head to kiss my jaw. “You know me too well.” She was on top of me, gravity doing its thing, but when she sighed, she wiggled as though it could somehow bring us closer. “I don’t trust anybody like I trust you, Cam. The minute I saw you today, sitting up front with your family, surrounded by the very same people who usually make my skin crawl, all the chaos in my head fell silent. The last few years, breathing has been a conscious effort. Every thought requires dissection, and every emotion needs to be processed and inventoried to make sure I'm moving in the right direction. But not when I’m with you. With you, I breathe and I laugh and…and I feel, Camden. Good things. And I don't even have to try. It just happens when I'm with you.”
With my heart in my throat, I rolled to the side and inched down so I could see her face.
Damp tracks streaked her cheeks, but there was a warm, content smile on her face.